Convinced that this year “will be the year of our victory,” its president appeared Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his message on the occasion of the anniversary of Russian invasion.

“On February 24, millions of us made a choice. Not a white flag, but a blue and yellow flag. Do not run away, but stand and meet the enemy face to face. Resistance and struggle,” the President of Ukraine said.

As he added, “It was a year of pain, sorrow, faith and unity. And this year we will not be defeated. We know that this will be the year of our victory,” he said.

HER: “With you, as long as you need”

“The future of unity lies ahead of us,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a video message marking the anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine.

“The year of barbaric Russian aggression, the year of heroic Ukrainian resistance, the year of European solidarity. Before us is the future of unity. You are fighting for freedom, for democracy, for your place in the EU. We are with you as long as it takes,” said Ursula von der Leyen.

“A free and independent Ukraine is a free and independent Europe,” said Charles Michel, President of the European Council, in a video message on the anniversary of the start of the war.

Mr Michel spoke of a “dark anniversary. For Ukraine, Europe, the world.” “We are on your side, we support you for as long as it takes, because we will never accept a world ruled by brute force,” he said.

Anniversary amidst fear and threats

Ukrainians are looking forward to today’s first anniversary Russian invasion in your own country, but try to entertain their fear of escalating attacks by posting on social media the last pictures of normal life before the start of the war. For my part, Mr. Vladimir Putin marked yesterday’s national holiday in Russia with threats to develop a new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, nicknamed Satan-2, by 2023, as well as hypersonic missiles and new nuclear submarines.

In his speech at the Defender of the Fatherland holiday, the Russian president said that he would focus on strengthening the country’s nuclear arsenal. The announcement comes less than 24 hours after Moscow’s suspension of participation in New START, the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty shared with the US, was announced. Moscow claims it test-fired a Sarmat missile last fall, while Americans believe the test was carried out shortly before President Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv and failed.

Bell for Beijing

At the same time, fears are growing in Washington that China intends to help Russia militarily. After warnings from Foreign Secretary Anthony Blinken and Biden himself, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen took the baton yesterday, urging Beijing to refrain from providing material assistance to Moscow, as otherwise it would face “serious consequences.” “. However, the Chinese peace plan, which at the moment is not clear what exactly it provides, has not yet been rejected by Kiev, since both President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba have been open to such a prospect. “We would like to meet with China “Zelensky said during talks with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Kiev. But the West doubts whether Putin intends to sit down at the negotiating table. “I don’t think it will stop,” British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said, predicting that the war could last another year, while he insisted that this was not a Russia-NATO conflict.

The Chinese peace plan, which is currently not entirely clear what exactly it envisages, has yet to be rejected by Ukraine.

They do not agree with the EU.

Late last night, the EU failed to agree on new sanctions against Russia, but EU officials hoped the package would be ready by today’s anniversary of the invasion. The proposed package includes trade restrictions worth 11 billion euros, including a ban on imports of Russian rubber. At the same time, the Commission wants the 27 countries to be able to more effectively control Russian assets on their territory, as they are seen as alienable for the restoration of Ukraine. However, some countries are reacting to a proposal to impose fines if they do not report Russian assets.

Moldova

In another development, Moldova yesterday dismissed a Russian Defense Ministry complaint that Ukraine was planning to invade the breakaway region of Transnistria under the pretext of a suspected Russian operation and urged Moscow to calm down.

Recall that the country’s President Maia Sadu at the beginning of the month accused Moscow of organizing a coup d’état in order to overthrow the government and draw Pridnestrovie into the war. The Russian-speaking region seceded from then-Soviet Moldova in 1990, and after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, pro-Russian separatists clashed in a bloody civil war with government forces in Chisinau.

Wagner took her gun

After accusations against the Russian Ministry of Defense that it leaves its people unprotected, without ammunition, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin said yesterday that his pressure was justified and that he received assurances that the necessary military equipment was sent.

There was a public civil war going on in Russia, with the Wagner group and its founder accusing the armed forces and their leader Valery Gerasimov of treason.

Prigozhin even posted videos of young mercenaries who, he said, were all killed because they suffered from a “lack of weapons.”

New revelations

Meanwhile, the Financial Times continued yesterday with revelations about Prigozhin’s circumvention of Western sanctions. After reporting in a British newspaper that the founder of the Wagner Group had managed to build a $250 million empire despite sanctions, he struck again yesterday, claiming that Prigozhin had succeeded in “laundering” British money by registering it as government money. the name of his elderly mother.